Detonating toy.



W. F. GEHRIG.

DETONATING TOY, APPLICATION FILED Nov. 28. me.

1,240,434. Patented s t. 18,1917.

WITNESS WILLIAM F. GEHRIG, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

DE'IONATING- TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 191 '7'.

Application filed November 28, 1916. Serial No. 133,851.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. GEHRIG, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Detonating Toys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of detonating toys in which a wheeled device is mounted on the end of a stick and is run along the ground to explode caps as it is pushed forward.

The objects of the invention are to provide an improved construction of device for exploding successively the caps of v a cap strip; to secure simplicity of construction and operation; to cause the feeding finger for the cap strip to press against the same only while feeding said strip; to accomplish this without using a spring; to prevent displacement of the cap strip; to secure an improved wheel, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a side view of a device embodying my invention, looking at the side thereof showing the working parts;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the hammer partially retracted;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the supporting plate;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the hammer;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an operating trip;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the wheel;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a cap-feeding finger, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the anvil.

In the specific embodiment'of the invention illustrated in said drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates a plate preferably of sheet metal and of suitable size and shape, having, at one end, portions curled up from the plane of the plate to form a socket 2 adapted to support the plate at the lower end of a stick or handle 3 inserted in said socket. It is to be understood that in use the handle is to be held so as to position the plate in substantially a vertical plane, that is, edgewise 0 the ground, and pivoted,

as by a rivet 4:, at a lower part of the plate when thus held, is a wheel 5, preferably stamped out of sheet metal, said Wheel projecting for a portion of its periphery below the plate so as to engage the ground and be rotated as the device is pushed along the same. This wheel is adapted, by means subsequently described, to operate a suitable hammer 6, retracting and releasing the same successively, permitting it to strike blows upon an anvil 7 and explode caps interposed between the anvil and hammer.

' The hammer 6 is pivoted upon the plate 1 above the wheel 5 and somewhat to the rear thereof or toward the handle socket,

and the anvil 7 is also upon said plate 1 in front of the hammer and above the wheel, said hammer providing a slideway into the lower end of which a cap strip is led from a roll 8 upon a pin 9 projecting laterally from plate 1 forward of the anvil.

The hammer 6 is preferably made of sheet metal and comprises a striking face 10 from which arms 11, 11 curve rearwardly downward in parallel relation to each other and the plate 1 and then bend forwardly again providing forward extensions 12, 12. At the ends of the arms 11, 11, where the extensions 12 branch 0d, the arms are perfo rated as at 13, 13 to receive a hinge pin 14 projecting substantially perpendicular from the plate 1 to which it is riveted or otherwise permanently secured. Furthermore, the hammer is secured upon this pivot pin 14 in any suitable manner, as by riveting the head thereof after the hammer is positioned upon the pin. The hammer is normally impelled toward the anvil, and to do this I preferably employ a wire spring 15 wrapped around the pivot pin 14: of the hammer between the arms 11, 11 and having one end extending into the socket 2 and its other .end extending to suitable cars 16 on one arm of the hammer and bearing against the same, thereby tending to swing the hammer against the anvil. Preferably, a stop 34 is provided on the inside of the socket 2 to prevent the stick or handle 3 from being pushed in far enough to interfere with said spring 15.

The anvil preferably comprises a strip of sheet metal secured to the plate 1 as by spaced tabs 17, 17 which project from one longitudinal edge of the strip in the plane thereof and extend through corresponding apertures 18, 18 in the plate and are suitably riveted or upset upon the opposite side of the plate from the anvil. The anvil thus stands edgewise to the plate 1, and extends transverse to the path of the hammer, terminating at one end at the top edge of the plate and at its other end adjacent the wheel 5. At the end at the top edge of the plate, the metal of which the anvil is formed is bent away from the hammer, as at 19, thus bracing the anvil and assisting. in preventing the same from being bent over under the blows of the hammer. At its opposite end, or end adjacent the wheel, the anvil is turned or rounded away from the ham mer, forming a lip 20 around which the strip 21 of caps or ammunition may pass from the roll 8. Furthermore, the anvil is preferably provided with means for holding the cap strip against lateral displacement therefrom, such means being herein shown as a flange 23 along the edge of the anvil away from the plate, said flange preferably being bent toward the hammer and then inward toward the plate substantially parallel to and spaced from the anvil. The cap strip is fed along the face of the anvil between the same and the flange, thus being held against slipping off the side of the anvil but being permitted to move longitudinally thereon for feeding a fresh cap to the portion of the anvil where the hammer strikes. However the flange 23 is close enough to the face of the anvil to engage the cap strip with sulficient friction so that it will not drop ofi" the anvil or be otherwise inadvertently displaced therefrom when not engaged by, the means hereinafter described for feeding it forward. It will be understood that the cap strip when not engaged by said feeding means may not only drop or be shaken off the anvil, but that also the unwound end of the cap strip may tend to recoil itself upon the roll and thus draw the end off the anvil, so that it is necessary to have some means such as I have described for holding the end of the cap strip against any backward displacement from the anvil incident to the normal use of the toy.

The feeding means herein shown for the cap strip comprises a finger 24 shown as a piece of sheet metal pivoted between the lower ends of the .extensions 12, 12 of the hammer, preferably by means of lateral pintles 25, 25, said finger extending at one end forwardly upward toward the anvil and adapted to engage the cap strip thereon, and extending at its other end rearwardly upward, as at 26, between the extensions 12, 12 of the hammer. This feeding finger is also provided with suitable stop means for preventing it from swinging back from the anvil farther than desired, or in other words, holding its forward end adjacent the anvil. These stops are shown as. portions 27, 27 similar to the pintles 25, 25 projecting from the side edges of the forward end of its fingeradjacent the said pintles and adapted to engage the edges of the extensions 12, 12 to limit the movement of'the feeding finger away from the anvil.

Also pivoted between the extensions'12, 12 is an operating trip 28, shown as a flat piece of sheet metal having laterally projecting pintles 29, 29 at one end which enter suitable holes 30, 30 in said extensions adj acent the pivotal mounting of the hammer, the trip extending in the same general direction as said extensions back of the rear end of the cap-feeding finger and overlying the margin of the wheel 5 at its side away from the plate 1, so as to be intermittently swung forward thereby as hereinafter described. As the trip 28 is swung forward it first engages the rearwardly projecting end 26 of the feeding finger and swings the feeding finger to press its cap-engaging end against the cap strip. Obviously, such engagement of the feeding finger with the cap strip will limit the swinging thereof and further pressure upon thetrip 28 will cause the hammer 6 to be swung away or retracted from the anvil, the cap-feeding finger being held all the time against the cap strip and because of the swinging of the hammer moved longitudinally of the anvil, thus feeding or moving the cap strip along the same.

As soon as the trip 28 isreleased from the means for swinging it forward, the

spring 15 causes the hammer to deliver its blow exploding a cap, and all the parts described returned to initial or idle position,

a stop 31 being provided, as by striking. up from the plate 1, to limit backward swing of the trip 28. Said stop 31, however, allows the cap-feeding finger to swing slightly out of contact with the cap strip so that no pressure whatever is exerted thereby on the cap strip until the trip 28 is again swung forward.

The wheel 5 which I have shown for "intermittently operating the trip'28 is provided with a lateral projection near its periphery, such as the lug 32'bent up from its periphery as shown. Obviously, every time the wheel turns the projectionf32 will engage the trip 28, swing it and pass out of engagement therewith, to effect the de sired operation above described. Although said wheel may be of any desired construction, I prefer to provide teeth 33 at that peripheral portion of it which engages the ground while the trip 28 is being -swung to retract the hammer, so as to secure a more positive and effective engagement with the ground to rotate the wheel. The rest of the wheel is preferably smooth or entire, so as to lessen the damage or marking it will do to floors and the danger of injury orv scratches to children operating the device.

Obviously detail modifications and changes may be made in manufacturing my improved detonating toy without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I do not wish to be understood as re stricting myself, except as required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

i-laving thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A detonating toy comprising an anvil, a hammer adapted to be retracted and released for striking said anvil, means for feeding caps to the portion of said anvil upon which said hammer strikes, meansfor operating said hammer and cap feeding means, and a wheel adapted to be. rotated. by engagement with the ground or the like for actuating said operating means, said wheel having teeth disposed along such parts of the periphery as to engage the ground while the operating means is being actuated thereby and having the rest of its periphery entire.

2. A detonating toy comprising an anvil, a hammer, a feeding finger pivoted on said hammer and adapted to move longitudinally.

adapted to successively press the feeding finger toward theanvil and swing the hammer, and a wheel adapted to engage and swing said trip.

4. A detonating toy comprising an anvil, a hammer, a feeding finger pivoted on said hammer and adapted to move longitudinally of the anvil as the hammer is swung, a trip adapted to successively press the feeding finger toward the anvil and swing the hammer, a wheel adapted to engage and swing said trip, and a stop for limiting backward swing of the trip when released from said wheel.

5. A detonating toy comprising an anvil, a hammer, a feeding finger pivoted on said hammer, a trip adapted to press the feeding finger toward the anvil as the hammer is ,Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byvaddressing the Gnnmissioner of Patents.

swung, said hammer moving the trip longitudinally of the anvll as the hammer is swung, and a wheel having a projection for swinging the trip to both press the feeding finger against the anvil and retract the hammer. V

6. In a detonating toy, the combination of a plate having a socket at its edge, a handle inserted in said socket, a wheel spaced from said socket and pivoted on the plate so as to project beyond the edge thereof, an anvil, means for supporting a cap strip roll, and a hammer having cap strip feeding means, all mounted upon and projecting from the same side of the plate as said wheel and being freely exposed thereat, and means for operating said hammer and cap feeding means by the rotation of said wheel.

7. In a detonating toy, the combination of a plate having a socket at its edge, a handle inserted in said socket, a wheel on the same side with and spaced from said socket and pivoted on the plate so as to project beyond the edge thereof, an anvil, means for supporting-a cap strip roll,'and ashammer having cap strip feeding means, all mounted upon and projecting from the same side of the plate as said Wheel and socket and being freely exposed thereat, and

means for operating said hammer and cap feeding means by the rotation of said wheel.

8. 111 a detonating toy, the combination of a plate having a socket at its edge, a handle inserted in said socket, 1 a wheel spaced fromsaid socket and pivoted on the plate so as to project beyond the edge thereof, means for supporting a cap strip roll, a hammer having cap strip feeding means and an anvil having an end turned for bracing the anvil against blows from the hammer, all said parts mounted upon and specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAlVI GEHRIG;

Witnesses:

HOWARD P. KING, MILDRED E. BRooKs.

Washington, D. C. V 

